About half of all Americans favor a combination of spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the federal deficit as the government faces the prospect of sharp spending reductions, a University of Connecticut/Hartford Courant poll shows.

The survey, released Tuesday, found that 49 percent of Americans want to see the government reduce the federal deficit with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases, while 40 percent want to see the issue resolved by spending cuts alone. Of those surveyed, 3 percent support raising taxes on all households.

When questioned further, the majority of those who had responded that they favored a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes said they leaned toward spending cuts, according to UConn Poll Director Jennifer Necci Dineen, a faculty member in the department of public policy.

"Spending cuts are definitely the preferred option for addressing the deficit, but nearly 50 percent of the country thinks they won't do the job alone," Dineen said. .

The poll results are based on a national sample of 1,002 randomly selected adults interviewed by landline and cellphones between Jan. 22 and Jan. 28. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the entire sample, and larger for subgroups, closer to plus or minus 5 percentage points.

When responses were evaluated by party identification, Democrats were more likely to support a combination of cuts and increases than Republicans. The poll found 69 percent of Democrats favored a combination, while 30 percent for Republicans.

In three of the country's four regions — the Northeast, Midwest and West — more than 50 percent of respondents supported a combination. In the South, 41 percent favored a combination; 48 percent favored spending cuts alone.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama urged Congress to postpone automatic spending cuts scheduled to begin March 1 to avoid "real and lasting impacts" on U.S. economic growth. Obama said lawmakers should act on a short-term package of spending cuts and changes to the tax code that would increase revenue, such as limiting tax breaks, to replace part of the $1.2 trillion in across-the-board reductions.